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Prof. Kathryn Kolbert, director of Barnard's Athena Center for Leadership Studies and a former reprodutive rights litigator, writes about the Women's Equality Act introduced by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo. An excerpt from her piece in The New York Daily News:

"The Women’s Equality Act clarifies our laws by stating simply, “New York State protects a woman’s right to obtain an abortion when the fetus is not viable, or when necessary to protect a woman’s life or health as determined by a licensed physician.” Contrary to what you may have heard, this would not undermine New York’s ban on later abortions or in any way supersede the federal ban on so-called partial-birth abortions.

Why is a change necessary? Because the Supreme Court could change the reproductive rights landscape soon. No, the current justices are not likely to reverse Roe outright. But our laws are not just meant to apply today; they are meant to endure."

Prof. Kolbert is the Constance Hess Williams Director of the Athena Center for Leadership Studies. Recognized by The National Law Journal as one of the "100 Most Influential Lawyers in America,” Kolbert argued the landmark case of Planned Parenthood v. Casey before the U.S. Supreme Court in 1992.